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>>>if you're looking for a measure of just how much american attitudes on smoking have changed, consider this. this broadcast started out not only sponsored by a brand of cigarettes but named after one. it was the camel news caravan. in the
modern era
it was renamed
nbc
nightly news. also in the
modern era
, we learned a lot about cigarettes and smoking. just today the
u.s. surgeon general
came out with a new report showing smoking impacts every
major organ
in the body and has already killed 20 million americans over the past 50 years. this is a
call to action
to eliminate smoking before it takes its toll on another generation. we get our report tonight from
nbc
's tom costello.

>> reporter: the warning from the nation's top doctors today, the dangers associated with smoking are far worse than we ever knew.

>>today the annual
death toll
from smoking is approaching 500,000 per year. enough is enough.

>> reporter: it was 50 years ago this month when the surgeon general announced smoking causes
lung cancer
.

>>cigarette smoking
is related to a higher
death rate
in a number of disease categories.

>> reporter: since then smoking rates have dropped from 48% of adults in
1964
to 18% now. today's thousand page surgeon general report dramatically increases the
list of diseases
linked to
tobacco use
. 13 cancers including bladder, cervical, liver, kidney,
head and neck cancers
. there's also diabetes, blindness, erectile dysfunction,
fertility problems
,
rheumatoid arthritis
, and cleft palates in children. kim knows the dangers of smoking but quitting has proven to be a huge strug. now she has two teenage kids.

>>i do not want my kids to smoke. i'm hoping that i will quit again and show them a better message.

>> reporter: with the smoking rate among teens on the increase, health experts worry if that rate doesn't come down soon, 1 in 13 children today could eventually die prematurely.

>>so today we're calling on all americans to join in a sustained effort to make the next generation a tobacco free generation.

>> reporter: the new goal cut the smoking rate from 18 to 10% in ten years, an all out
public education
effort combined with higher cigarette taxes and ultimately to make smoking a fad of the past. tom costello,
nbc
news, bethesda, maryland.